July 2/06 9:23 am - Haywood Grand Prix

Posted by Editoress on 07/2/06

2006 Haywood Grand PrixCourtesy Paul Done, Event Director

The 2006 Haywood Securities Yaletown Grand Prix was held in perfect Canada Day weather in front of thousands of spectators who came down to watch the full day of racing in downtown Vancouver. Both the Men's and Women's Cat 1/2 races were decided from select breakaway groups who used the technical 6-corner course to get away from the rest of the field. With a couple of laps to go In the Women's race, Alison Sydor (Team Rocky Mountain Business Objects), Stacey Spencer (Team Trek Red Truck Racing) and Lisa Tasa (Chapman Land Surveying) were able to slip away from the group of five which had established a solid gap roughly halfway through the 45 minutes event. Spencer jumped with two corners to go and held Sydor and Tasa off to the finish line.

The Men's Race was defined early when Navigators Crit machine Kirk O'Bee made a strong solo move which became a two-up breakaway when Team Rocky Mountain Business Objects legend Andreas Hestler made the huge effort to bridge up. They worked together seamlessly for the remaining 50+ minutes to eventually lap the field. The bunch sprinted for third place with three laps to go and Trevor Haaheim, racing for Total Restoration, had the pop to hold everyone off for the last podium spot. O'Bee and Hestler were left to duke it out for first and Hestler used the same tactic as SpencerÃ‹Å“attacking into the furiously fast corner 5-- to surprise O'Bee and hold him off to the line.